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    HomeExplore the Capitol CampusThe Art Collection
Cox Corridors Murals

The first floor of the U.S. Capitol's House wing is elaborately decorated with these wall and ceiling murals.
        
                  The Basics
      
Artist
      
Allyn Cox

Location
      
House Wing

Cox Corridors
          U.S. Capitol Building

The Great Experiment Hall (Central East-West Corridor)

The central east-west corridor is referred to as the Great Experiment Hall because it chronicles in 16 murals the legislative milestones of three centuries, from the signing of the Mayflower Compact in 1629 to the enactment of women's suffrage in 1920. Thirty-two vignettes complementing the historical scenes are painted at the sides of the murals. In the ceiling 16 medallion portraits are painted in chronological order, and quotations appear above the 16 doorways. The corridor was dedicated in 1982, not long before artist Allyn Cox's death. Cliff Young, Cox's assistant, then began to refine details of Cox's sketches for the third corridor, but he died in 1986 before beginning to paint.

The Mayflower Compact, 1620
	The Albany Congress, 1754
	The First Continental Congress, 1774
	The Declaration of Independence, 1776
	The Constitutional Convention, 1787
	The First Federal Congress, 1789
	Washington's Inauguration, 1789
	Washington's Farewell Address, 1796
	The Monroe Doctrine, 1823
	Lincoln's Second Inaugural, 1865
	The Smithsonian Institution, 1855
	The Library of Congress in the Capitol, 1800-1897
	Steam Powered Amphibious Boat, 1804
	Iron Foundry, circa 1850
	Theodore Roosevelt, circa 1904
	Women's Suffrage Parade, 1917The Hall of Capitols (Eastern North-South Corridor)

Cox first executed the murals in the eastern north-south corridor, starting work in 1973 and finishing in 1974. This corridor has been termed the Hall of Capitols because it features paintings of 16 different buildings that housed the Continental and United States Congresses from 1754 to 1865. Portraits of the nine men who served as Architect of the Capitol between 1793 and 1974 decorate the groined vaults of the ceilings. Painted in the barrel vaults of the ceilings are eight historic events that occurred during the first 65 years of the Capitol's existence. In lunettes on the walls, trompe l'oeil techniques use shades of gray to simulate sculpture. Two depict sculptures that had been displayed at the Capitol in the past: Horatio Greenough's *George Washington* and Giovanni Charles Micali's *Tripoli Monument*. Two depict Capitol sculptures that are more difficult to see because of their locations: the woodsman figure from Thomas Crawford's *Progress of Civilization* pediment above the Senate doors on the East Front and two figures from Carlo Franzoni's *Justice* in the Old Supreme Court Chamber.

Capitols

Albany, 1754
	New York, 1765
	Philadelphia, 1774
	Philadelphia, 1775
	Baltimore, 1776
	York, 1777
	Annapolis, 1783
	Princeton, 1783
	Trenton, 1784
	New York, 1785
	Philadelphia, 1790
	Washington, 1800
	Washington, 1814
	Washington, 1815
	Washington, 1829
	Washington, 1867Historical Scenes

Capitol Site Selection, 1791
	Capitol Cornerstone Ceremony, 1793
	British Burn the Capitol, 1814
	First Capitol Inauguration, 1829
	Old House Chamber, 1838
	Rotunda During Civil War, 1862
	New Dome Symbolizes Union, 1863
	Civil Rights Bill Passes, 1866Portraits

Charles Bulfinch
	Edward Clark
	Thomas Crawford
	Pierre Charles L'Enfant
	Benjamin Henry Latrobe
	David Lynn
	Frederick Law Olmsted
	J. George Stewart
	John Trumbull
	Thomas U. Walter
	George M. White
	Elliott WoodsThe Westward Expansion Corridor (Western North-South Corridor)

In 1993-1994 the third series of murals, based on Cox's approved designs, was executed in the western north-south corridor by EverGreene Painting Studios, Inc. Called the Westward Expansion corridor, it includes maps and scenes showing the growth of the United States from early exploration through the acquisition of Alaska and Hawaii. As in the corridors that Cox executed, the scenes on the vaults are set above illusionistic architectural motifs and relief sculpture. Each map in the vaults is shown in the cartographic style appropriate to its historical period. Jeffrey Greene, the head of EverGreene Painting Studios, verified the geographical and historical accuracy of Cox's preliminary sketches, developed new scenes compatible with Cox's concept, and then submitted detailed sketches and small-scale oil paintings of each vault to the Architect of the Capitol for the necessary approval.

Maps

Terra Incognita
	The First Four Settlements in America
	The First Thirteen Colonies
	From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River
	Central North America
	From Texas to the Pacific Ocean
	Alaskan Purchase, 1867
	Sandwich IslandsScenes

Boone at Cumberland Gap
	Boston Tea Party, 1773
	Explorers' Portage
	Fort St. Augustine
	Gold Prospectors
	Lewis and Clark
	Louisiana Purchase, 1803
	Northern Wilderness
	Spanish Mission
	Stalking Deer
	Timucuan Village
	Yorktown, 1781Vignettes

Canal and Locks
	Covered Wagons
	Clearing Land
	Drying Cod
	Fur Trade
	Golden Spike
	Hunting Game
	Indian Ceremony
	Island Dance
	Land Grant College
	Pony Express
	Sharecroppers
	Sod House
	Weaving
          
    
      Image Gallery
    
    John Trumbull portrait in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.

John Trumbull portrait in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.
    Mural "New Dome Symbolizes Union, 1863" in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.

Mural "New Dome Symbolizes Union, 1863" in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.
    
    America the Beautiful poem written on a wall in the Cox Corridors of the U.S. Capitol.
    British Burn the Capitol, 1814, Allyn Cox, 1974, Corridor, House wing, First Floor.

British Burn the Capitol, 1814, Allyn Cox, 1974, Corridor, House wing, First Floor.
    Thomas Crawford portrait in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.

Crawford portrait in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.

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          John Trumbull portrait in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.
      Mural "New Dome Symbolizes Union, 1863" in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors.
      
      America the Beautiful poem written on a wall in the Cox Corridors of the U.S. Capitol.
      British Burn the Capitol, 1814, Allyn Cox, 1974, Corridor, House wing, First Floor.
      Thomas Crawford portrait in the U.S. Capitol's Cox Corridors. Serve. Preserve. Inspire.

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